Because there are over 750,000 self-pubbed and 250,000 books published a year and they won't all get reviews in the NYTBR. Authored by M.J. Rose

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Best Review I Ever Got
I used to read books like this [The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose] before I discovered smutty worlds filled with vampires and shape shifters. But this book reminded me I liked to read books like this. It even had just humans in it and I still liked it. -- Samantha at Fiction Vixen Book Reviews

October 08, 2012

11 Things Not To Do Before Your Book Launch

Sometimes what you mustn't do is just as just as important as what you must do.

I've had a dozen novels published and have made far more than a dozen mistakes. Which is why Randy Susan Meyers and I wrote a guidebook to help authors avoid making our mistakes. This list contains just a few my "must nots" inspired by the much longer list of "must dos" from What To Do Before Your Book Launch that just launched last week.

1. Don't assume everyone will wake up the day your book comes out and rush out to buy it . (No one can buy a book they have never heard of.)

2. Don't spend more than 10% of your marketing/pr budget on a trailer. Trailers have to be marketed too. So far too many authors wind up marketing their trailers instead of their books.

3. Don't spend more than 10% of your marketing/PR budget on your website -- people only find your website after they hear about the book and no one goes looking for a book that no one has ever heard of.

4. Don't plan readings for bookstores that include you reading all 20 pages of the first chapter unless you're a stand up comic and there is only one joke on each page.

5. Don't be in awe of your own talent, book, brilliance, success or transcendental prose. It's better to have someone other than you, the author, praise the book.

6. Don't spend all your money hiring a PR or marketing firm that no one you have ever heard of has used. Equally don't hire firms that don't specialize in books.

7. Don't do a crazy expensive contest giving away something like an iPad -- thousands of people will enter the contest to win the iPad -- but not be incentivized in any way to buy the book. In fact most will only take notice of the words "iPad" and not even register title of your book.

8. Don't expect all your writer friends whose books you have not read and not praised, to read yours and praise it.

9. Don't use your advance to buy an antique sports car, diamonds by the yard or a bottle of wine from Thomas Jefferson's cellar instead of investing in your book.

10. Don't put the "buy the book" links on an inside page of your website where no one can see them or hide them in a corner -- it should never take more than 2 seconds for someone to figure out how to buy your book. It is not crass to make it clear how to buy the book that no one has ever heard of before and that you are trying to sell.

11. Don't drop into your local bookstore and yell at the booksellers because there aren't twenty copies of your book on the front table.

As Randy's grandmother always said, it's easier to be nice. My grandmother wasn't nice so she never had anything nice to say.

Comments

Hi M.J. We are new to your blog but are already fans. We enjoyed your post: "11 Things Not To Do Before Your Book Launch."
Esp.,#2. advising not to spend more than 10% on marketing/pr.bud for trailers. Also, same as website. Very smart. We always appreciate when those who have more experience share with us newby's. Thankyou again, and we look forward to getting to know your work better and stopping by your blog in the future.

By M.J. Rose

M. J. Rose: The Collector of Dying Breaths: A Novel of Suspense
Indie Next Pick Amazon Best of April Mystery/Suspense
"Gripping--a suspenseful and enigmatic story... captivating... compelling, imaginative." (Kirkus)
"A page-turning, alluring concoction of fiction infused with fantastical yet actual history. Readers will be mesmerized by her enchanting narrative, which takes them on a mystical and magical journey." (Library Journal - Starred
"Rose masterfully combines romance, mystery, and dual timelines…The storyline and extensive historical details…are fascinating.” (Romantic Times TOP PICK))
"Mysterious, magical, and mythical…what a joy to read!" (Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants)

M. J. Rose: Seduction: A Novel of SuspenseIndie Next List.
Intriguing, absorbing, and utterly captivating, Seduction will leave you begging for a sequel." —Books & Books
"Mysterious, haunting, and tragic, Seduction emerges as a suspenseful alchemy of potent ingredients, beautifully blended, that ignites your senses and leaves you aching for more." (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet )
"Seduction is an absolute pleasure to read -- clever, suspenseful, exciting, mysterious, learned, and engrossing. Some of the best historical fiction I've read in quite some time and just plain reading fun. M.J. Rose is at the top of her game, and that is saying something." (David Liss, bestselling author of The Twelfth Enchantment )

M. J. Rose: The Book of Lost Fragrances: A Novel of SuspenseINDIE NEXT PICK
SUSPENSE Best of 2012
PW Best of Mystery/Suspense Spring 2012
"Deliciously sensual...Rose imbues her characters with rich internal lives in a complex plot that races to a satisfying finish." (Publisher's Weekly (starred and boxed)
"Compelling... suspenseful tale. Once you catch a whiff, you will be enchanted". - Associated Press
"Rose has entered another realm and written what is bound to be one of this year's best books." -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"The Book of Lost Fragrances by M.J. Rose is an amazing novel, an utterly engrossing thriller that weaves together reincarnation, ancient Egypt, international intrigue, and a lost book of fragrances. Elegantly written, with unforgettable characters and flawlessly realized international settings, here is a novel that will keep you up all night—and leave you with powerful feelings of revelation, wonder, and the infinitude of human possibility." —New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston

Seen on FOXTV as PAST LIFE : The Reincarnationist THE REINCARNATIONIST. Starred Library Journal Review. Starred Publisher's Weekly Review. Booksense Pick for September and 2007 Highlight List.
"A fascinating story of reincarnation that is one of the year's most ambitious and entertaining thrillers." - David Montgomery - Chicago Sun-Times

People Magazine Pick of the Week : The Memorist "Gripping… Rose once again skillfully blends past and present with a new set of absorbing characters in a fascinating historical locale." - Starred Review, Library Journal ------------------------------
"Rose's fascinating follow up to The Reincarnationist... skillfully blends past life mysteries with present day chills. The result is a smashing good read." -Starred Review, Publisher's Weekly